Zither-action.



S. C. OSBORN.

ZITHER ACTION. APPHCAHON HLED DEC. 30 I916.

1,235,368. Patented July 191?.

2 SHEETSSHEET 1.

WITNESSES I JI ENTOR a Jamaal 6706mm;

' ATTORNEYS S. C. OSBORN.

ZITHER ACTION.

APPLICATION man uc.30. 19\e.

Patented July 31, 1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

WITNESSES ATTORNEYS UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SAMUEL C. OSBORN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

ZITI-IER-ACTION.

Application filed December 30, 1916.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL C. OsBoRN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a new and Improved Zither-Action, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to zithers and similar musical instruments, and its object is to provide a new and improved zither action more especially designed for playing the melody strings, and arranged to maintain a proper alinement and co-action of the keys with their hammers on pressing the keys for ac tuating the hammers with a View for the hammers to properly sound the melody strings.

In order to accomplish the desired result, use is made of spring hammers fixed at one end and adapted to sound with the other end the melody strings, keys pivoted at one end and engaging at the other end the said hammers to swing the same downward on pressing the keys, each key having intermediate its ends depending spaced guiding and stopping lugs straddling the corresponding hammer, and a fixed stop adapted to be engaged by the said lugs to limit the downward movement of the keys.

A practical embodiment of the invention is represented in the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a plan view of a zither provided with the improved zither action;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged plan view of a portion of the zither' action as applied and with parts broken out;

Fig. 3 is a cross section of the same on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of one of the keys; and

Fig. 5 is an enlarged section of one of the keys and its hammer, the section being on the line 55 of Fig. 3.

The body 10 of the zither is of box-like construction and over the said body are stretched in the usual manner melody strings 11 and accompaniment strings 12. The melody strings 11 are adapted to be sounded by heads 13 of hammers 14: made in the form of fiat steel springs secured in a bar 15 extending across the melody strings 11 and fastened to a support 16 attached to the top of the body 10 of the instrument at opposite Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 31, 1917.

Serial No. 139,717.

sides of the outermost melody strings 11, as plainly indicated in Fig. 1. The hammers 14 are normally inclined in an upward and rearward direction, as plainly shown in Fig. 3, and the backs of the heads 13 of the hammers 1% rest against the under side of a felted stop 20 attached to the under side of the plate 21 fastened by bolts 22 on side arms 23 fulcrumed at on the sides of the support 16. The lower ends of the side arms 23 are provided with flanges 25 normally resting on the attaching flanges 26 of the support 16. It is understood that the pivots 2aare sufficiently tight to hold the side arms 23 in an upwardly and rearwardly inclined position but allow the side arms 23 to swing downward for lowering the stop plate 21 and its felted stop 20 together with the hammers 1 L when is is desired to pack the musical instrument for transporting or storing purposes. The bolts 22 permit of clamping the stop plate 21 in position on the side arms 23 to hold the stop plate 21 and its felted stop 20 in the desired position relative to the hammers 1d for the latter to butt against when the parts are in the position shown in Fig. 3. It is understood that the construction of the side arms 23 and the stop plate 21 forms no part of my invention. The face of the stop plate 21 is preferably provided with indicating characters 27, such as consecutive numerals, shown in Fig. 1, de noting the corresponding melody strings 11 with a view to aid the player to play the proper keys 32 on executing a piece of music having a notation in which numerals are used corresponding to the numerals 27 for the corresponding strings.

The hammers 1d are engaged forward of the bar 15 by coverings 30 in the form of tubular pieces of rubber slipped on the forward ends 31 of keys 32 provided at their other ends with hubs mounted to swing on a pivot 34 extending across the melody strings 11 and held in brackets attached to the top of the body 10. Each of the keys 32 is preferably made of sheet metal and is provided at the sides with downwardly extending short flanges 36 to stiffen the keys and prevent the same from bending when pressed by a finger of the player. The free end 31 of each key 32 projects forwardly from an angular ofiset 37 forming part of the forward end of the key 32 so that the hammer 14 is not liable to come in contact with the under side of the key 32 when the latter is pressed and the hammer is swung downward to sound the corresponding string. The hub 33 of each key 32 is extended slightly beyond the sides of the key so that the hubs of adjacent keys abut against each other, as plainly indicated in Fig. 1, with a view to hold the keys spaced a proper distance apart to permit the player to individually press the keys without danger of pressing a wrong key, In order to prevent a key 32 and its hammer 14 from moving out of alinement with each other and at the same time stiffening the key and forming a stop for the same to limit the downward swinging movement use is made of lugs 38 depending from the flanges 36 and forming integral parts thereof. The lugs 38 straddle the corresponding hammer 14 to hold the hammer and its key at all times in proper alinement with each other and consequently with the corresponding melody string 11. The lugs 38 are adapted to engage a felted stop 40 mounted on the support 16 below the hammers 14 so that when a key 32 is pressed and a downward swinging movement is'given to the corresponding hammer 14, then the lugs 38 finally move in engagement with the felted stop 40, thus limiting the downward swinging movement of the pressed key at the same time allowing the spring hammer! 14 tov swing downward to its full extent to sound the corresponding string 11, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 3. It will be noticed that the lugs 38 hold the key 32 in such position when pressed that the hammer 14 is not liable to contact with the pressed key except with the covering 30 and that only when the hammer 14 returns to its normal upward position. It is understood that when a pressed key 32 is released it is re-v turned to uppermost position by the return swinging movement of the spring hammer 14 and the return movement of the latter is limited by the head 13 striking the under side of the felted stop 20,

It is expressly understood that a key constructed in the manner described is sufficiently stiff, although made of light sheet metal, to prevent bending of the key when being pressed by the player, and the key lugs 38 form a guide for the hammer 14 to hold the hammer and its key at all times in proper alinement and the lugs 38, in addition, serve to limit the downward swinging movement of a pressed key by coming in contact with the felted stop 40.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. A zither action, comprising spring hammers, one for each string mounted to swing, keys one for each hammer, each key being pivoted at one end and engaging with its free end the corresponding hammer, each key being provided intermediate its ends with spaced depending lugs straddling the corresponding key, and a fixed stop engaged by the lugs of the keys on pressing the latter to limit the swinging motion thereof.

2. A zither, comprising a bar extending across the strings, spring hammers secured at one end to the said bar and provided at their free ends with heads each for sound-' ing a corresponding string, a pivot extending across the strings, keys fulcrumed on the said pivots and engaging with their forward ends the said hammers in advance of the said bar, each key being provided intermediate its ends with spaced depending lugs straddling the corresponding hammer, and a fixed stop engaged by the lugs of the keys on pressing the latter to limit the swinging motion thereof.

3. A zither, comprising a bar extending across the strings, a support carrying the said bar and provided with a felted stop, spring hammers secured at one end to the said bar and provided at their. free ends with heads each for sounding a corresponding string, a pivot extending across the strings in front of the said bar, and keys fulcrumed on the said pivot and engaging with their forward ends the said hammers in advance of the said bar, each key being provided intermediate its ends with spaced depending lugs straddling the corresponding hammer, the lugs engaging the said felt stop on pressing the keys to limit the swinging movement of the keys.

SAMUEL C. OSBORN.

Witnesses:

LORENE MORETON, FRED W. NEWHQUSER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

